Each player has two ways to win: (a) meet their individual win condition, or (b) become emperor/empress. There may be multiple winners, but only if all of those players have met their wincons at the time the game ends.

The game will end on Cycle 8, or before then if there are three of fewer living players. Once either of these benchmarks is reached, the senate (composed of 50 senators, and played by me) will elect the new emperor/empress. There will be a combination of factors that go into this decision: (a) how lethal were you - is the senate scared of crossing you, (b) how wealthy are you - are you at the height of Roman society, (c) how many allies do you have - do you have favors and connections to call in, and (d) bribery - do you own any of the ownable senators.

The first two criteria are self-explanatory, though I should note that lethality is calculated by (successful attempts/total attempts)*100. So, 2 successful attempts out of 4 total attempts would generate a lethality score of 50. However, making only a single attempt will not produce score at all. The last criteria is explained below. That just leaves (c). All senators will be sorted into one of 5 families, and if the allies you've made during the game were members of those families, those senators will be more likely to support you. If you backstabbed members of those families, those senators will be less likely to support you. The make up of the senate will be revealed only in the endgame.

The Game

Cycles will be 48 hours, and conducted via PM. Don't post in the public threads. Players must initiate their own PMs with each other, however, any PMs sent must include me. Repeat: all PMs sent out must include me.

At the end of each cycle, I will post a thread in the games section revealing any deaths that occurred, as well as pertinent information on the game. One or two twists and turns might be included as the game progresses.

Each player has a life score and a luck score. A life score is your base chance (out of 100) of surviving an attack. Your luck score is your ability to avoid fate-induced disasters; every other cycle, there is a risk you could fall prey to such a disaster. Some of you will start on even cycles, others on odd, for the luck-based mechanic. You also have starting account of money in the Bank of Bishius, and an income. These are all stated in your private PMs.

Each player also has a character (you don't have to impersonate them per se, but it is just so you understand where you fit in the game), and also an ability, explained below. The games ends when an emperor/empress is crowned. You must be alive to win (unless otherwise stated).

For this game to be fun, you must plot, scheme, lie, and backstab, and you must work together and against each other to reach your objectives. This is very important. Bring out your conniving side.

Abilities

Each player has an ability which they can use in addition to there 3 actions per cycle. There are more potential abilities listed then there are abilities present in this game.

Auctoritas - the senators love you, and so they will be 20% more likely to vote for you as emperor (if you survive long enough).

Bodyguard - You may target another player (not yourself) and increase their life score by 10 for that cycle. However, if an attack is successful, there is a 50% chance you will die instead of the person you are protecting.

Elite Spy - You may target another player at night and learn the content of up to four messages that your target sent or received that cycle. These messages will be randomly selected. In addition, you will be able to learn up to two of the actions that they took that night (again randomly selected). You may not use this ability more than two nights in a row.General - Legions will be 25% cheaper for you to purchase, 75% effective at absorbing attacks, and have no risk of any kind of blow back.

Highwayman - You may wait on the road, hunting down carts full of loot and cargo. On a cycle when you use this power, 50% of all money transfers will be redirected to you. You may only use this power three times per game.

Landlord - You may bribe an opponent's legions with land to either defect to you (25% chance) or to disband (35% chance), though there is a 40% chance that nothing will happen. You may acquire more than the normally allowed number of legions through this mechanism.

Lawyer - You may target a player during a cycle. If they are attacked that cycle, you will have a 50% chance of learning the identity of the attacker. If they were attacked the previous cycle, you will have a 25% chance of learning the identity of the attacker. These probabilities hold true despite any advantages an attacker might have.

Mercenary-Assassin - You may target another player and attack them during a cycle. When you attack them, their life score will be 10 lower than usual, and the risk of either kind of blowback falls to just 5% each.

Merchant - When you invest money, it is more likely to be profitable. There is a 40% chance that your money will grow by 25%, a 45% chance that nothing will change, and a 15% chance that your money will decrease by 25%.

Monk - You may choose to go to the cloister to pray on a given cycle. If you do this, you cannot be targeted or attacked, but you also cannot communicate or take any actions except invest money.

Robber - You may break into the Bank of Bishius and steal money from the account of another player. There is a 25% chance that your identity will be revealed to your victim. You may not perform this action on consecutive cycles.

Slave-Owner - You may choose the target for another player's ability on a given cycle. You may not use this action on consecutive cycles.

Veto - You may target another player and prevent them from using their ability that cycle. You may not veto the same player more than twice in a row.

Actions

Below are the actions you might take at the end of each cycle. You are not allowed to take more than three actions in a given cycle, but you may take less. Actions will be accepted on a rolling basis, so once you submit them (in bold in your personal PMs) they are final, and results will be returned to you as soon as possible. If you don't want an action to be insta-finalized, place "provisional" next to it (also in bold). That action will be finalized only at the end of the cycle, unless you choose to cancel it before that.

Bribe - you may choose to pay off senators by bribing them. Note that senators will always accept your bribes, but they will also always go to the highest bidder. Just because you gave them money, doesn't mean you bought their votes. You can submit up to 10 bribes to try to sway 10 of the senators who will elect the next emperor.

Buy Legion - you may buy soldiers that you can use to either (a) defend yourself or (b) attack an opponent. When a legion defends you, there is a 50% chance that they will absorb the entire attack for you, and a 50% chance that the attacker will reach you (though that still does not guarantee that the attacker will be successful). When a legion attacks another player, there is no risk of lethal blowback for yourself, and only a 10% chance your target will find out who attacked them. Once a legion has either attacked or absorbed an attack, it expires and you may buy a new one to replace it. You may not have more than 1 legion defending you, or more than 2 legions attacking for you, in a given cycle. A legion costs 1,000 sesterces (ses).

(continued below)

Live Long and Prosper

I'm a Bish.

"Twilight isn't just about obtuse metaphors between cannibalism and premarital sex, it also teaches us the futility of hope." - Raisor

Direct Attack - you may directly attack another player (i.e. your personal character attacks theirs). If your attack is successful, your target dies. If your attack is unsuccessful, there is a 40% chance of blowback. By blowback, I mean that there is a 20% chance that your target will learn the name of the character that attacked them, and a 20% chance that your target will fight back and kill you instead.

Hire a Spy - you may hire a spy to covertly monitor an opponent. A spy will learn up to three randomly selected messages that his target sends or receives that cycle. A spy expires after one cycles. A spy costs 2,000 ses.

Invest Money - you may choose to invest money with the Bank of Bishius growth portfolio. As with all investments, there is a risk of loss and a chance of gain. There is a 35% chance that your money will grow by 25%, a 35% chance that nothing will change, and a 30% chance that your money will decrease by 25%. You can leave an investment in the bank indefinitely, you can add money to it, or withdraw from it, and each night, dice will be rolled to see whether it grows, plateaus, or shrinks. The minimum starting investment is 250 ses, and you can only add in increments of 250 (so 1,000 and 2,250 are okay, but 300 is not).

Transfer Money - you may choose to transfer money from yourself to another player. You can only transfer in increments of 250 (so 1,000 and 2,250 are okay, but 300 is not).

The emperor--Appius Herennius Severus--is ailing, and is widely expected to be dead within the month. His son is too young and sickly to become Emperor, and his daughters--well, Rome is meant to be a man's world.

The news of Herennius's condition has sparked a desperate struggle for power among key players in the capital. They are now all in Rome, vying to see who the next Emperor shall be. You are one of those players, and now is the time to make your moves.

Live Long and Prosper

I'm a Bish.

"Twilight isn't just about obtuse metaphors between cannibalism and premarital sex, it also teaches us the futility of hope." - Raisor